


Promise

by Eijiko, ilianka_smoulinka_91



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Arujean, Hurt/Comfort, Jearmin - Freeform, M/M, Manga Spoilers, What should happen in ch 105, older jearmin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 18:58:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14315067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eijiko/pseuds/Eijiko, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilianka_smoulinka_91/pseuds/ilianka_smoulinka_91
Summary: Armin waits, clinging to a Promise. Because after all, that's all they have left





	Promise

**Author's Note:**

> An older Jearmin Oneshot to celebrate (and mourn) the end of Jearmin week! 
> 
> Here’s to hoping they become canon by next year

Armin sighed.

He was worried. So worried that he could fill the whole world with his worryings, making the stars fall. He was worried about his friends, about Mikasa's recklesness when it came to Eren. About Eren's hotheadness, although they were all young adults now and he was supossed to behave like one. He was worried, concerned about Connie, Sasha and the others...

But above all, he was worried about Jean.

They had stopped seeing each other a couple of days before their departure for Marley, as part of the strategy. Levi's squad would attack first, while Commander Hanji and Armin would be part of the rescue group that would arrive later in the airship. They had said goodbye with such anguish that Armin had shed tears of despair in silence, wondering if Jean would come out alive from that suicide mission.

"I'll come back, I promise," were the ash-haired boy's words his boyfriend clung to fervently. A promise. A promise that had to be fulfilled, no matter how. Even if that meant killing innocent people. 

Perhaps those traitors against whom they would fight now had not done so too? Had not they risked everything by entering the island and breaking the walls, aware of all the lives that would be lost? Yes. Yet they had done it. And Armin thought that maybe they were not so different from them, but then, Jean had convinced him otherwise. There was something that differentiated them from those who had once been their friends. Love, friendship and their thirst for freedom. At his nineteen, the blond boy knew that he would die young, and yet he longed to see the world he had been born in. Another promise made by Jean that had to be fulfilled.

"When all this is over, I promise that we will travel the world together."

And Armin clung to that, too, from the bottom of his heart, and wished earnestly that he could do it, see Jean again.

Because sometimes, the promises could be autumn leaves that detached from the branch with the slightest blizzard ...

But not this one.

Armin longed.

"Stay alive," was the last thing he said to Jean before saying goodbye.  
He had nodded. One more promise.

Dreams, dreams, desires, wishes. In a cruel world like that, one was not allowed to dream.

But they were human, and it was inevitable.

All Armin had wished for as a child was seeing the ocean. The giant salt lake just beyond the walls had filled his dreams for years, but now that he had reached his goal, his dreams changed. He was now the holder of the colossal titan. The “replacement” for former commander Erwin Smith. Because of the curse of Ymir, he would die at 28. He was just a weapon for the military to use to help win the war against Marley. While Eren was hell bent on avenging the lost lives of his friends and family by making Marley pay, Armin didn’t want to fight. He wanted to explore the world, see the lakes of fire and giant cubes of ice, discover things he hadn’t known about before. To be able to live a fulfilling life with the man he loved by his side. But those dreams are impossible now. He wouldn’t even be able to live past the young age of 30.

“We’re here.” Hange’s voice broke Armin out of his troubling thoughts and back to the harsh reality before them. 

Armin nodded, turning to look out of the blimp’s windows at the thick gray blanket of smoke below them. Except for those who held the shining lights that had been placed by the survery corps, he could barely make out the outlines of the houses below.

The blimp landed on top of a large flat building, still hidden by the smokey curtain but the trained soldiers of the Survey Corps knew where to go. Now all that they had to do was wait. Wait in anxiety and dread while the guilt of his actions made him feel nauseated and worthless. 

As he gazed down below, he longed to be out there with the rest of his comrades. It was dangerous, and he knew they would suffer great casualties, but at least if he was with them he would know what had happened to Jean. His heart aches as he thought of his lover. A good leader and extremely talented with his gear, but also blind in certain ways and prone to getting himself into dangerous situations because he hasn’t thought things through. Armin had saved his life three times before in the past, and how he wish he could be there to do it again if he had to. 

Eren and Mikasa were the first to arrive at the blimp, Mikasa carrying a worn out and battle scarred Eren. In the past, maybe Armin would have run up to hug his best friends and cried over how happy he was that they had come back. But now, there were no hugs or tears of joy. Instead, there was just a brief smile exchanged between Mikasa and Armin as they boarded the blimp. Eren collapsed once they got inside. Shifting so many times had caused serious strain on his body and he needed rest. 

Slowly, more and more soldiers arrived. While Armin had been expecting heavy casualties on what was essentially a suicide mission, he hadn’t expected so little soldiers to come back. Most, while not fatally, were injured and medical workers rushed around, going from soldier to soldier, providing them with the medical assistance they desperately needed. 

Within the chaos, Armin had been able to make out a few familiar faces in the swarms of people. Levi and Hange, their hands interlocked as they spoke in low voices about their plans for escape with another commander from another country. He saw Hitch run around with the medical staff, helping wounded soldiers and providing comfort for others. She had changed after the death of Marlowe, she had become more sensible and while she wasn’t an official member of the corps, she did come to greet them with the medics whenever they came back from an expedition. Connie sitting with his arm protectively around Sasha while she wrapped a minor cut on her hand with fresh gauze. She had been severely injured in their last mission, so of course Connie was being so protective of her this time. As much as Armin would have loved to run up to his friends and ask them about what they had seen down below while fighting Marley, he had more pressing manners. He had to find Jean. 

Jean was no where to be seen, but Armin still held hope. He had promised to come back, to stay alive. Jean could be reckless, but Armin knew that deep down he wasn’t an idiot. He would try to come back to him. but as the already small trickle of soldiers coming back slowed down and the taller brunette still hadn’t arrived, Armin’s hope started to shatter. What if the other boy was too injured to reach the blimp? Or what if his squad had been wiped out in the fighting? What if he never saw Jean again? Armin felt tears sting his eyes and he quickly blinked them away. Jean had made a promise. He just had to believe that he would keep his promise and wait for him. 

And then there he was. 

He looked like a mess. Long hair - which Armin had begged him to cut - disheveled, dirtied uniform and a small cut on his forehead. But he was alive. Living, breathing and running towards Armin. 

Jean pulled Armin into a tight hug, tears of relief and happiness streaming down their cheeks as they held each other close. Armin breathed in deeply and the familiar scent of Jean filled his nose and the welcomed feeling of his strong arms wrapped around his back made him dizzy with relief. “You’re alive...” Jean whispered, softly pressing a kiss to Armin’s head. 

He pulled away slightly and Armin wrapped his arms around his neck, preventing him from moving too far away. He leaned in and softly kissed his lover, not caring who else saw. It didn’t matter to him anyways. Jean had kept his promise. He had come back to him. He hasn’t left him alone in this horrible, cruel world they lived in.

“I missed you so much.” Armin’s voice cracked. “I was so worried.” 

“I promised you I would come back, didn’t I?” Jean grinned at his boyfriend and leaned in to kiss him again.


End file.
